Shrine of the Unforgotten
by Rethy
Summary: Though to humans in modern day Japan they did not hold much meaning besides that of "old traditions", there were still gods out there who truly valued and longed for the importance of shrines dedicated to their name. (Two-shot)


Gods exist solely because of people's wishes and their entire lifeline is dependant on their followers and believers; if they don't have any then they will simply disappear as their role has been fulfilled.

It wasn't uncommon to see some gods simply phase out of existence because the era had changed far too much for anyone to accept them anymore, making them slowly forgotten more and more with each passing day until the eventual time for their disappearance where they would either be remembered as gods of calamity that could only fulfil wishes that could, back in the day, be reasoned and justified in a way or another but were now far too twisted for the world or simply wouldn't be remembered as having ever existed at all.

That was the fate of lesser known gods.

Iki Hiyori was acquainted with such an entity that was mysteriously part of both categories: A few months ago, she had attempted to save the life of a boy who looked to be only a few years older than herself when the truth was that he was an unknown god that had managed to survive for centuries without followers and would not have died even if she hadn't intervened, making her "sacrifice" not only pointless but also resulting in her standing in a weird position in the world.

Yes, ever since her accident she had become an uncommon entity even to the eyes of that god. Iki Hiyori was half a human and half an Ayakashi, spirits that embodied the negative thoughts and sins of mankind. Thanks to that change. she had gained the ability to leave her physical body at will and remain in a spiritual one that was much more strong and athletic but it had a glaring weak spot in her tail-shaped cord that attached her spirit to her real body and would end up with her death if severed.

Though she had requested for that nearly forgotten god to help her return her body to normal so as to not live with that constant danger, that girl who was dragged in the realm of divinity slowly found that she hardly minded her state; if it was what had allowed her to stay by the side of that god and his companion that served as his trusty weapon then Hiyori was ready to never return to how she used to be just so that she could be by their side forever.

The side of that god who, despite embodying the wish of the beings that created him, bore wishes of his own.

"It's my dream! I've always wanted one since I was little! But no one will ever build one for me..."

As she slowly sipped a cup a tea in front of the television, Hiyori barely registered and absent-mindedly nodded to what her mother was telling her about not being tricked by suspicious men into scams as she recalled his saddened expression.

His words resounded in the young girl's mind throughout the night; he had been given the opportunity to make his dream a reality if he conceded to abandon his most loyal companion that had been ready to sacrifice his life for his sake, but he was ultimately far too good to accept such an offer even after his heartfelt declaration.

(I wonder if I could...)

The time she had spent after leaving the two boys she had grown awfully close to was dedicated almost entirely to considering how she could cheer up the stray god that would likely feel immensely sad about the whole situation.

Then, Hiyori had an idea she felt particularly excited about. "I think my brother had some scraps..." She trailed off in a mutter not directed to anyone as she prayed that it would at least give that boy some peace of mind and some confidence for his dream.

Sneaked into her brother's currently unoccupied room looking for materials that were needed for her plan under the pretext that she needed to make a get-well present, which wasn't completely false, Hiyori started working on her project almost immediately even though she would have to go to bed soon.

"Hiyori, you've just recently entered high school so you mustn't sleep in!" Her mother, Sayuri, gently rebuked the girl with a certain amount of perplexity as to who could possibly need a get-well present in the group of Hiyori's friends that she knew about despite no one ever mentioning any of them feeling ill. Was it possibly for friends she had recently made after graduating? The thought filled her with such content that she decided to indulge her daughter ever so slightly.

And so she let Hiyori alone, trusting her to go to bed at an appropriate time to still feel refreshed for the following day.

...However, that had been a rather bad idea.

The moment Hiyori found the scraps of wood and carving tools she had been looking for, she became unable to stop and continued working on little pieces of simple designs well into the night despite her parents repeatedly telling her off every few hours.

The gate, the main building, the roof, and the donation box. Everything was carved carefully and gradually assembled even if she occasionally went through a few mishaps that forced her to start over with more wood and had paid the price for this project in the form of numerous cuts over the left hand that held the scraps of wood in place while she was cutting away with her right hand. Unfortunately, the object was small so Hiyori couldn't carve the main building as accurately as she wanted to, so she instead opted to make up for it putting things that were a bit more exclusive to the person she would be giving this to: the small crown that was always somewhere on his clothing, the drawing of a little white figure on the back of the shrine that represented the first apparition of their common friend, and finally...

* * *

"Ya..."

In the blink of an eye, her notion of time had completely disappeared.

By the time she allowed herself to stop being so absorbed in her small sculpture, Hiyori found herself blinded by the morning light that had started to make its way into the room without her being aware, and added the final detail that would be needed for this to be entirely his.

Her hands didn't move as well as she wanted them to and she had issues keeping he eyes opened from the tiredness she felt from this being the first time she had skipped out entirely on going to bed in her life, but she still forced herself to carve straight symbols.

"To..."

She finally attached the yellow plate with the words on the sculpture.

It was done.

Sitting on the table in front of her eyes was a small shrine made out of coloured pieces of wood so old she had to add another coat to refresh the colours after shaping them into the appropriate parts and assembled everything with glue that still made her hands somewhat sticky. It was her first time starting a project like this, as shown by the amateur work she had done with how some of the parts of the shrine were completely asymmetrical.

Yet, despite the shrine's gate being abnormally thick on one end compared to its thinner opposite, and despite the roof that wasn't aligned properly, she still felt happy about the outcome and she only had one wish that she hoped he would grant. It wasn't much of a shrine you would dare to offer to a proper god, so Hiyori had made it while thinking of the friend she found within that god instead, bringing a familiar and personal touch to the sculpture.

"I hope Yato will like it..." She muttered, unaware that someone had entered the room to check up on her for the umpteenth time.

"Hiyori..." Sayuri called out in displeasure as the woman realised Hiyori was still up shortly after awakening. It was a weekday yet her daughter had still not gone to bed even though only a few hours remained before classes would start. Approaching the seemingly exhausted girl, Sayuri picked up the small sculpture of a small shrine to understand what it was that had kept this girl up for so long; she had always been a good student and had never needed to do this before today.

"Ah, Mother! I-I'm sorry!" Hiyori exclaimed before finding herself unable to stop a wide yawn that she could only conceal behind her bandaged hand, acknowledging just now that she had been quite a bad girl by staying up so... early, at this point.

"Ya...boku?" Sayuri had not paid the obvious signs of Hiyori's exhaustion the usual attention she would as she instead carefully analysed the shrine Hiyori had made; it was certainly a rather poor depiction of a shrine that was made in a god's honour by the amount of personal details that had been added onto it for something Hiyori, such a diligent girl, had made yet she could still feel that Hiyori had made it with great affection and care.

"You read it as "Yato"." Hiyori corrected her mother as she finally rose from her position and felt slight pain coming from her legs from having spent all night sitting.

"Is "Yato" a deity? I've never read about or heard of such a god. Or do you mean Yato-no-Kami?" Sayuri asked before being submerged with confusion once her daughter shook her head; why would Hiyori suddenly start making miniature shrines as get-well presents when she'd never had that much of a distinct interest in divinities? Let alone ones for gods that she felt rather confident did not exist in the many books listing Japanese deities they owned if this wasn't Yato-no-Kami?

"The Yato god is... a kind god that only a small amount of people know about." Hiyori explained with a kind and reminiscing tone as she bathed in the morning light emanating from the windows. "He's a bit odd, no one really knows anything about him or his life and he has really weird ways of going about things sometimes, but... because he's so poorly known, he'll definitely always do his best to grant the wishes of the people that actually paid attention to him."

It was perhaps a bad idea to be so open about Yato, but it seemed that anything she said about him would soon be forgotten anyway however saddening that fact was, so Hiyori allowed herself this brief moment of complete honesty.

Hiyori's mother turned towards her daughter with her eyebrows raised in surprise, having never heard Hiyori talk about a deity, or a person for that matter, so fondly. Her eyes shifted between Hiyori and the small shrine many times before she ultimately decided to not delve too deep in the matter as she slightly smiled. No matter whether this god truly existed or not, her daughter had dedicated a night making what could be considered the best offering a high school student like Hiyori could do for a deity. That unknown god had gained a follower with great dedication in the form of the daughter and if he truly existed then he should feel rejoiced and proud. That was how she felt.

"I see." Sayuri concluded as she gently put the shrine back down. "Though I can't vouch for the goodness of a god that encourages the attitude of a bad girl, if he truly does exist then he is quite fortunate to have such a devout follower. I hope your friend will feel better with this."

"I'm sorry and thank you, Mother."

At this, Hiyori grinned as she started putting away the mess she had made in this room with all the supplies. There was still some time before classes would start so she also hoped to get a bit of sleep before officially starting her day; she had to deliver the shrine to Yato today and it would be bad if she was just too tired to pass by Kofuku's house.


End file.
